Southern Fried Catfish Recipe

This fried catfish is crispy on the outside with a breading that is seasoned to perfection. The outside might be crisp, but the fish is tender and flaky on the inside!

I think the key to a good fried catfish is the breading. I had some amazing catfish onboard my recent Panama Canal cruise. I was onboard The Coral Princess (by Princess Cruises, see Princess.com for more information) where I had some of the best catfish I have ever tasted at the Bayou Cafe and Steakhouse. That catfish is the inspiration behind the recipe I am sharing with you today. I have so much more to say about my Princess Cruise (You see check out my Instagram for sneak peeks), but I’ll have to save that for another day. This post is all about some fried catfish!

I try to keep things lean around here, but sometimes fried foods are a must. Fried green tomatoes and hush puppy recipes are popular because frying them makes them taste amazing. You can absolutely oven fry these catfish, just keep in mind that the result will vary from what you see here.

To start this recipe, I used decent sized catfish fillets that I picked up from my favorite grocery store. I place my vegetable oil in a deep skillet and allow that to heat up. Meanwhile, I place buttermilk in one shallow bowl and a mixture of cornbread, flour, and Old Bay Seasoning in another shallow bowl. Soak your fillet in buttermilk, dredge it in the breading and fry each piece for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown, turn your fish and fry your second side until it also golden brown. Soak, dredge, fry. Simple as 1, 2, 3. You can get crazy with your seasoning by adding some hot sauce to your buttermilk. I used quite a bit of seasoning in my coating; you can adjust that to suit your tastes.

If you are food lover like myself, then cruise the Panama Canal on a Princess Cruise! Princess cuisine is designed for freshness. Bread are baked 24-7, sauces made from scratch using the finest ingredients, steaks aged and hand cut onboard and homemade ice cream every day! Of course, there is also catfish.

Ingredients

Instructions

Heat oil in a large, deep skillet. Oil is ready when the handle of a wooden spoon is placed in the oil if bubbles form around the handle the oil is ready!

Place buttermilk in a shallow dish. In a separate bowl stir together the cornmeal, flour, seasoning, salt, and pepper. When oil is ready, coat one fish fillet in buttermilk then dredge in cornmeal mixture. Carefully place fish in hot oil. Fry fish for 4-5 minutes, turn and fry the second side for another 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove fish and place on a paper towel to drain. Repeat with remaining fillets.

8 Responses

It was so wonderful to meet you and your daughter during our Panama Canal Cruise with Princess! The cuisine onboard was definitely top notch. And now I’m drooling over catfish. Looking forward to making this for Harry!

Just made this for the first time…actually my first time making catfish! It was so simple and so tasty. Thank you. I looked at so many other recipes but glad I followed yours for the simplicity and the outcome! Thank you. I can’t wait to make it again!